The Christian Science Monitor (CSM) has reported that when the new school year began in the US in September 2014, a demographic milestone was passed.

For the first time in the nation’s history, the majority of those enrolled in public schools were students of colour.

In 1997, the percentage of white American students in school was almost 64%. It drops to 49.7% this year. More and more schools are seeing radical increases in the numbers of Hispanic and Asian students. Ninety-eight per cent of the Hispanic student cohort starting school this year is US-born.

However, 83% of public school teachers are white, 8% Hispanic, 7% African-American and 2% Asian, according to the CSM.Whilst no-one denies that teachers should be appointed and retained because of their performance, education experts across the US agree that there is a concomitant need for a more racially diverse teaching force.

Census researchers predict that by 2043, non-Hispanic whites are expected to become a minority in the US. Meanwhile, say those education commentators who believe that American education is in crisis, those beginning their school career this year deserve the very best. They will, after all, be the citizenry that will fund the social security and medical aid costs of tomorrow’s retirees.